Accordions invariably remind me of French music and of Piaf's famous L'Accordianiste. But that balmy May evening at the chapel of Bir Miftuh we were invited to listen to Pietro Roffi - a classical accordioniste. This concert was being held under the patronage of the Embassy of Italy and with the support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura. It is difficult to believe that this was the 20^th edition of the Bir Miftuh International Music Festival organised by Din L'Art Helwa.

Pietro Roffi is young - born in Rome in 1992. He has already played in so many countries, won prestigious competitions. His repertoire ranges from baroque music to the piano literature of the 19^th and 20^th centuries and we were told 'touches the innovative original music for the bayan - a button accordion.

The concert was very well attended - these concerts have been popular from the start.

Roffi put us in a good mood with L'Inverno from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi whose  output of concertos is, by anyone's standards, staggering with a total of 350 of them under his belt. The majority are for violin. He worked fast and once claimed he could compose an entire concerto faster than it could be written down!

Vivaldi is still referred to in musical circles as the 'Red Priest' and even though he was a man of the cloth, he used to tour with both a top soprano and her sister. Born on the other side of the Alps, he ended up in the next graveyard along from Mozart in Vienna. Both of them were in paupers' graves. And look at them now. Who hasn't heard of Vivaldi and Mozart? The Four Seasons were only rediscovered in the 20^th century.

I had never heard Vivaldi played on an accordion before. I found Roffi's playing bright and extrovert and as fresh as new paint. He started his "voyage" through centuries of music. And so on to Janáček another gifted composer from Monrovia and so to Astor Piazzolla, so well loved and whose music is associated with the tango. S'il vous plait - a tango was followed by the familiar leitmotiv of Ave Maria. It was so appropriate to select this as we were after all in a sacred space.  Then Chiquilin de Bachin a waltz followed. It is dedicated to a boy who used to sell flowers in the theatre area of Buenos Aires. The last Piazzolla piece was Sentido Unico a lively piece.

Grieg came next with five Lyric Pieces, lovely miniatures written for the piano but adapted for the accordion. The most popular of these Lyric Pieces is Wedding Day at Troldhaugen which was written to commemorate the composer's own silver wedding anniversary. Grieg's summer villa, built just outside Bergen in 1885, was also called Troldhaugen, so this particular tune was evidently full of meaning for him. However our young musician did not include it that evening but played another five attractive pieces.

Gernika, 26/04/1937, by Spanish composer Gorka Hermosa (born in 1976) is the story of the bomb attack carried in 1937 by Nazi troops on the Spanish city and which inspired Pablo Picasso's famous artwork. The piece is characterized by a pronounced violence in its composition (deafening chords, virtuosic extracts, meditative moments and thunderous clusters) and by the performance itself.

And so to one of Camille Saint-Saëns's most popular pieces, Danse Macabre, which Roffi played with splendid panache. It is spectacular.

Last a work by Zolotaryov - Rondo Capriccioso.This Soviet composer and bayanist is regarded as one of the greatest Soviet composers for bayan.  This too was a most enjoyable piece. There were encores but I do not recall what Pietro Zoffi played.

I have to pay tribute to the splendid work done by Din L'Art Helwa and its hard working team. Also by the embassies and their cultural sections. They always bring us first class performers. We are so very lucky.

I was very impressed when last Saturday I received not one but two phonecalls informing me that the Classical Guitar Recital by Liat Cohen was not going to take place. The team explained that they had done their utmost but there had been last minute problems. Professionals to the end.

Forgive me if I sound less than enthusiastic. I do not feel well at all and am finishing this as fast as possible so that I may go home to bed. It seems to be that there are all kinds of bugs around and I am catching some of them in spite of all those vitamins I consume.

Thank you Din L'Art Helwa for another well organized concert.